The Bitcoin Foundation is celebrating its reaching quorum in the current elections to appoint three new members to its board of directors.
The positions became vacant following the resignation of John Matonis and the expiry of terms for Gavin Andresen and Peter Vessenes.
In what is being viewed by some as a controversial measure, the election administrators required members to "activate" their accounts prior to the election. The rule was reportedly designed to render as ineligible "non-active" members, whose lack of participation in the vote, intentionally or otherwise, would render it invalid.
A majority of active members need to vote in order for results to be valid. Only 364 out of 1,523 members activated their account by the February 11 deadline, leaving the other 1,159 (76%) ineligible. The 183rd voter recently cast his/her ballot, achieving a majority of the eligible voter base in less than 24 hours.
Said Brian Goss, volunteer elections committee chairman:
"In the last election, it took 3-4 days and required a great deal of encouragement from me to get enough members to cast a ballot so that we could reach quorum. I remember feeling quite worried that we might not get there. This time around, we included a confirmation step essentially equivalent to registering to vote that ensured a healthy participation rate from our most active members."
In describing the difficulty from previous elections, the board went as far as to allege that inactive members are seeking to sabotage the process and ensure nobody is successfully voted in.
Dark Wallet creator Cody Wilson wants to get elected in order to disband the Foundation altogether. He has previously said about the foundation, "Was always an embarrassing exercise in bad faith and state philosophy. It was always a vessel for frauds and second-rate minds to collude against the public. I invite you now to its ritual sacrifice."
By way of comparison, the recent elections for the Israeli Bitcoin Association's board of directors--whose pool of representation comes mostly from a country with a population of roughly 8 million--saw a turnout of 113 (78%) of an eligible 145 members.
